The life of adventure…. mystery… new landscapes… new encounters… while exhilarating, it can be quite taxing on the person! Poisonous plants, man-eating beasts, rations for days and not many folks to stop by and commune with was something he did not expect to be apart of the job description… Okay, maybe he did, but not this bad! It was enough for him to find the closest form of society, grab some ale, and enjoy some society. Thus, Douken had found himself within Nisshoki, selling what information he came across as well as some collected good to afford himself an inn room and a simple drink…

And even heading into the city to be social, he found himself relaxing on the ceiling with his drink.

Who could blame him, though? It was long, so he was tired, but more importantly, the night sky had its own unique shine to it, being very relaxing to sit town and stretch. Then again, old habits on finding higher locations were hard to break, giving Douken a place to scout out the land and see what could peak a traveler's interests. "A dip in the hot springs does sound pretty comforting," he sound himself saying as he looked over the land.

The city of Nisshoki. A much more peaceful and calm place than that vile pirate town she had left. She had sailed across the seas to get away from it. She hasn't liked what it had been doing to her. She felt like she had defended into a wrathful being of blood and violence there, no matter how hard she had tried fighting it. So she had to leave. She had given no word to the few friendly people she had met there, but just left. The cool night air whipped through her long silver hair as the ship prepared to make port. The city looked beautiful, and the peaceful aura surrounding the place wrapped around her like a salve on a wound, comforting her and healing her mind from the darkness that lay within. After she ship had docked she had made her way to an inn and paid for a room. She dropped her bag off in the room but could not bring herself to sit still. She needed to see more of this place. She ordered a bottle of the sake that the innkeeper said they are more renown for in this place. She headed out on the town with her bottle. The streets were wonderful and peaceful with happy people everywhere, but she felt the need to see more. She headed into a small alley and out of sight of those around her she climbed the wall of the nearest building and took to the rooftops. It was more beautiful up here, observing everyone. She sat on the roof of one of the taller buildings and hummed quietly to herself as she poured a small glass of the sake. She took a sip and to her surprise she liked it. She hasn't liked the alcohols she had tried before, but that was to be expected, they were made by vile men. And vile men make a vile product. She found herself drinking more until she was pleasantly buzzed before she giggled and couldn't help herself but start to twirl about on the roof, dancing to the music playing in her head, music that she was humming quietly.

Though he did look down at the town, he did catch some motion more at the top of the buildings. A small moving figure in the distance. Was it some type of rogue after a heist? No, the clothes the figure wore did not really scream "stealthy." In fact, he could almost call it flow-y, like a dress. Not only that, but it took a seat and stayed still, seemingly taking in drinks at a casual manner. No, he figured this person was taking leisure in the night sky just like he was. He wondered if the figure would mind any company? If not, well it moved him closer to the hot spring he wanted to investigate anyways.

His eyes traced the lengths and heights on each building, mentally drawing in a map as his fingers moved down to his ankles, sparking alive with mana before drawing the same rune on each one, each one glowing and resonating as he got up, moving about the rooftops and leaping across the maps, following the route he had given himself before reaching the other's location, who during the time found themselves dancing to the ambience of the city below? No, it was probably safer to say she was recalling a bard's tune in her mind and was playing that to dance to.

"I do hope I am not interrupting," the explorer stated, stepping into view of the dancer before him, "But I would think it would be a bit of a danger dancing up here on your own. It would be sad to see anyone fall and harm themselves…"

She kept dancing as the stranger made their way over to her. She was having fun and didn't want to stop. He spoke of the dangers of dancing o  the rooftops and let out a small laugh. "Ah the dangers of dancing, the dangers of the world below. No matter what you do there is always one danger or another, so why not take the route that gives the most joy." Her dance came to a stop and she smiled as she looked the man over. He didn't seem like he was all that dangerous. She picked up the bottle of sake and poured another drink, this time in both of the small cups that had been provided. She held one out to the stranger and said, "Here, have a drink. It's a fine night and some fine company would be pleasant, so please feel free to stay a while." She looked out over the city below and downed her drink. Her mercury eyes scanning over every detail. "It's a peaceful place here.  I like it." She said quietly before pouring another drink and downing that as well. She set the bottle and her glass down and clapped her hands together before turning and looking back to the stranger. "So, my new friend, are there more fun things to do here than dancing upon the rooftops? If so, you should show me!" Her cheeks had started to get a bit red as the alcohol took effect. She scanned over the town again as if looking for something fun. "Hmm, what's that building over there? It looks weird." She said pointing to a building with steam rising from behind it. It was the entrance building to the hot springs. "We should go exploring! Here, have some more to drink!" She said picking up the bottle and thrusting it I to his face.

He was not sure if it was the alcohol talking or if she was simply carefree enough to not worry about slipping and breaking her neck, but at the very least she stopped at the idea of his company and instead invited him to be a drinking buddy. It would certainly be rude to say no to such a kind offer, so he accepted the drink, raised it up to her as if a quick cheers, before finally taking a slow sip for himself. It certainly was not a drink he had before. Instead of a punch of hops or fruit given towards the alcohol's flavor. Maybe this was what locals called Sake: a simple, yet effective rice wine. It was always amazing to see how cultures adapted to what they had before seeing it evolve into a local staple of their society.

However, it seemed this alcohol was not enough to delude her energy levels as she was quick to to ask him about what this town had to offer. "I am sorry, my new friend, but just like you, I am a stranger to this land myself. Then again, the sense of exploring and discovery can give a sense of fun on its own. We can tour this town together and see what it has to offer." However, it seems her eyes has already locked onto a spot of interest to check out… which happened to be a place he wanted to see as well.

"If I would to guess, I would say it would be a large bathhouse or hot spring. Not as grand as the one that rests in Abed, but enough to provide comfort for travelers, guests, and locals after their hard work tending to the farmlands here."

Though he was shoved the bottle, he chuckled before taking it in hand, pouring himself another quick glass to drink from. "How about before we do that, we get to know each other a bit? After all, things would be awkward if we simply called each other 'friend,' don't you think?" Raising his glass to her, he offered another cheers as he said, "I am Douken Sota. This is to our friendship," before finishing what he had poured before filling again.

Hearing that he was new here as well she smiled brightly, "Then it truly is an adventure! Exploring the unknown, even if it is just a city like this instead of some haunted mansion, dark forest or monster filled cave. Even the smallest of adventures have their worth and may turn out being the best of all."

After she pointed out the bath house and he told her what it was she looked at it curiously. "A bath house? I've never seen one before. From the name I take it people go there to get clean." She had never heard of this Abed that he had mentioned but she figured it was some other city on this continent. 

He made a valid point when he suggested they get to know eachother before saying they were friends. "Hehe, sorry I guess you're right." She accepted his cheers with a response, "I'm Lilith Aeron, you can call me Lily. Cheers to friendship" she filled her glass again and drank. 

"So as to getting to know each other better I'll tell you about me. I woke up from a sleep of I don't know how long, several thousand years is my guess from the state of things. I met a titan of a dragon as soon as I made it back into the light from where I was kept. It was an amazing experience. I somehow ended up in the place called Vilpamolan instead of Adeluna which is where I was told to go. After a few weeks in Vilpamolan I decided I needed a break from all the violence and murderous things there so just got on a boat and left. I ended up here just a few hours ago." She took another drink before asking, "ok, what's your story?"

"Correct, but its more of a public space than private, so do not be shocked that you have others with you as you relax or clean… depending on which it actually it is. The other question is if it is gender split or a co-ed system. Most of the time it is all about who is running the place where all that is answered."It was always an experience to see which case each one offered, especially if there were multiple in the same town. After all, he had found cases where one would be mixed while the other would be more separated. Of course each type had their own challenges to deal with such as peepers or public expression of feelings…

With a bit of a chuckle, he remarked, "My, what an interesting adventure to wake up to," before making a small motion to join him and head towards the steam to investigate as he went to describe himself. "I guess you can say its my profession is to get lost while exploring. I seek out information, such as routes, mineral veins, or ruins and sell off the information. At least that is how I am able to afford myself inn rooms and meals." Sure, he did have an ulterior motive with his searching, but he didn't feel like it was worth explaining. Instead, he more distracted himself by moving his thumb to the key around his neck and holding it up.

"For a while, we had this small relic in our family, and its only been now that this career has led an answer to its purpose, so sometimes what I find can be personally useful."

She was lost in his explanation. It seemed so scandalous! Bathing with others same gender or both. Though she could see how it would save space and the like not having separate rooms for everyone. The idea of bathing with others seemed outrageous yet her curiosity was peaked. She wondered if people actually interacted in there or if everyone kept to themselves. What kind of things went on there? It seemed almost like he had read her mind when he motioned for her to join him as he headed towards the bath house. 

His explanation of himself was just as interesting to her as his explanation of the bathhouse. It seemed an amazing way to go about life. Just getting lost and going on adventures, not worrying about the politics of one city and how they may change your life. His way to make money was an interesting one as well. Who knew people would pay for information like that. She was surprised since in her time information that was needed by one person was always freely given by the other. They had no use for money or anything of the sort. The fact that money was used now was a strange concept to grasp but she had quickly caught on to it. She had made some money by every now and then selling some small trinket or another that she had from back in her time. Apparently one of the items used in their creation was sought after in this time. It made her wonder why that was seeing as it was a common and plentiful item way back when. It's disappearance seemed to coincide with that of her pwople so it was just another thing to add to her ever growing list of things to find out.
When he explained about the key hanging from his neck she leaned in to take a close look. "Hmm, it's quite pretty. What's the purpose you found for It if you don't mind me asking?"  

They were almost to the bath house and she looked over to him. "So how does this work? I assume we have to go through the front entrance." She said then jumped down from the roof, the skirt of her dress fluttering about as she fell. Her hands held her skirts down as she fell and landed gracefully with only a small noise accompanying her landing. She had used a slight amount of magic to make it an easy landing. She hadn't wanted to hike up the skirts of her dress in order to climb down, that would be a bit embarrassing. She looked to Douken and said in an amused tone, "So what do we do now Sir Douken, you're in charge of this little adventure."

"Simple," Douken said, a bit of a jokey smirk on his face on him as he answered, "it opens doorways." An odd answer, yes, but it was no normal key the Ancients had left for them to find. Neither did it open gateways to other realms or dimensions. No, it was more that it made its own doors to unlock and open. "I think the main reason why no one has really discovered its secrets is because it involves a magical casting style that has nearly become lost in time thanks to the power of efficiency."

Then they were on the ledge just before the steaming building, Lily was the first to take a dive, holding her dress down so it down flutter so much on the descent. As for Douken, he glanced at his ankles to see if the runes he crafted were still in effect. Sure enough, they did have glow, but was staring to fade. Seemed they were at their last ounce of strength. With this in mind, he hopped wall to wall to ensure a safe descent down back to ground level, the light fading seconds before he landed on ground floor. Sure, that did mean he did stumble upon his landing, but at the very least his legs and ankles were unharmed. Meeting back up with Lily, he gave her a nod, telling her, "Let's go, shall we?" before heading her to the inside of the building.

The interior was of simple design (then again, its hard to challenge the flash Abed's had), but it was effective enough. A simple room hosting a nymph dressed in a simple, yet elegant kimono as a counterwoman and two doors behind her. "Greetings, my new guests," she told them, giving them a like bow, "and welcome to our hot springs. It is a mixed bath, if that is alright with the two of you." He turned over to Lily just to double check, who returned with a smile and a quick, "Sure," as a response. Turning back to the nymph, he nodded as well, as if to signify both parties were fine with it. "Very well. Two guest would be 40 silver then." Paying for the two of them, he handed over the coins, letting her count them before nodding. "The women's changing room is on the left while the men's is on the right. It is up to you whether you wish to keep your towel on or not. However, we would like to ask to keep all personal acts of affections outside of here. Thank you and please enjoy yourselves."

Giving a nod to their hostess, he waved to Lily, telling her, "See you on the other side then," before taking to the men's section, where many baskets were set up to hold the guest's clothing. Stripping down all except for the key around his neck, he placed the items within one of the baskets, wrapping himself in the offered towel before stepping out to the actual hot spring area. "Guess that explains why there was so much steam," he muttered, now seeing it was an outdoor spring, using more or less natural cover to stop others from entering.

She headed into the building with him and even at first glance she was enchanted with this place. It was beautiful to her. Then she noticed the person. Who seemed to be in charge. When the lady said the price Lily grabbed her money pouch but Douken was already paying. "You didn't have to pay for me. Fine then next adventure is on me then." She said and returned her pouch. She would make sure whatever was in store next, she would pay him back. She was extremely stubborn when it came to things like this and wouldn't take no for an answer. She listened to instructions and headed off to the woman's changing room. She looked around not quite knowing what to do. The multitude of baskets was interesting. Some had clothing in them others didnt. She must have looked as helpless as she felt because after a few moments a lady came up to her. "First time here?" She said. Lily nodded and the lady seemed to take pity on her. "Ah, ok well you put all your things in one of the baskets, here use the one next to mine. Then you can use one of these towels if you like for when you go in. If it's your first time, I recommend it." Two other woman were there as well and started chatting with the lady that had helped her. They didn't seem shy around eachother at all as they laughed while touching eachother. She quickly stripped down and wrapped herself in a towel before looking back at the woman like a lost dog. The lady and her friends giggled and one of them said, "Oh my you're quite blessed aren't you?" "Wh-what?"She replied and the ladies closed in on her and started what they probably thought was friendly touching. Lily's face was bright red when she managed to run out of the room into the steam filled area of the hotspring. She looked around in a slight panic as she could hear the women following her. Through the steam she saw Douken. She held her towel tight so it wouldn't fall off and ran over to him. She held onto his arm and hid behind him and said, "Help me, they keep touching." The other three women had emerged laughing and instead of approaching they waved and winked at her. "They're scary."